President Musk? The DOGE leader’s government shutdown push shows how he’ll wield power in Washington

After a government funding bill went down in flames on Wednesday, lawmakers in both parties were in agreement about one thing: Elon Musk had played a huge role in bringing Washington to the brink.

“Yesterday was DOGE in action and it was the most refreshing thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here for 4 years,” wrote Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

“The leader of the GOP is Elon Musk,” wrote Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. “He’s now calling the shots.”

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance put the nail in the coffin of the bill, but their joint statement trashing the continuing resolution — and issuing a new demand for Congress to raise the debt ceiling — came after several hours of silence on the matter.

That void was filled by Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy, who savaged the bill as an example of the wasteful spending that Trump has empowered them to target for elimination during his second term. Newly galvanized by DOGE and lacking any guidance from Trump, several Republican lawmakers publicly cited arguments put forward by the two leaders to justify their opposition to the bill.

“This omnibus is the very thing the incoming Department of Government Efficiency is trying to put an end to,” Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri wrote on X. “A vote for this monstrosity is a vote against DOGE.”

As Republican support for the bill dried up, passage through the GOP-controlled House became an impossibility, and the bill was scrapped.

Federal funding will run out at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers are unable to agree upon and pass a new bill by then, the government will shut down for the first time in six years, prompting flight delays, closures of National parks, and paycheck delays for federal workers.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, disputed the notion that Musk is the leader of the GOP in a statement to B-17 for this story.

“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”

Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

‘This bill should not pass’

Over the last several weeks, Democrats and Republicans had been hammering out a compromise bill to fund the government through March 14. After significant delays, bill text was released on Tuesday night.

Aside from extending government funding at current levels for another three months, the bill also included language allowing the District of Columbia to take control of a stadium that the Washington Commanders have long sought to use, a modest pay increase for lawmakers, billions of dollars in disaster relief for states affected by recent hurricanes, and other provisions that Trump and Vance later characterized as “giveaways” to Democrats.

Musk first came out against the bill on Wednesday morning, writing on X: “This bill should not pass.”

Over the course of several hours, what began as a simple statement of opposition turned into something much larger, including Musk endorsing shutting down the government until January 20 and declaring that any Republican who voted for the bill deserves to be voted out of office.

Along the way, Musk made and amplified false claims about the contents of the bill, including that the bill included a 40% pay raise for lawmakers (it was 3.8% maximum) and that the bill included $3 billion for the Commanders’ stadium.

By the time Trump and Vance weighed in on Wednesday afternoon, the bill already appeared dead, and the two men had an entirely different demand: Lawmakers shouldn’t simply shut down the government, but pass a spending bill without “giveaways” while simultaneously raising the debt ceiling.

Musk the ‘shadow president’

It remains unclear what legislation will emerge. Democrats have insisted on moving forward with the deal they struck with Republicans, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries rejected the idea of raising the debt ceiling in a Bluesky post on Thursday morning.

The government spending bill’s collapse was an early demonstration of Musk’s newfound clout with Republicans on Capitol Hill, previewing how the mercurial billionaire might handle the role of DOGE co-lead under Trump.

Over the last two years, a pattern has emerged in government funding and other fiscal fights. Both parties work on compromise legislation, hardline Republicans rail against it, and both the House and the Senate easily pass it with mostly Democratic votes.

On Wednesday, that pattern was broken, with a shutdown appearing imminent.

For hardline Republicans who’ve typically opposed government funding bills, it marked a moment of elation and a sign that with the advent of DOGE, the balance of power is set to shift in their direction under Trump.

Some Democrats, meanwhile, have seized the moment as an opportunity to embarrass Trump, painting him as subordinate to Musk.

“Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy. Go grab the deal to keep the government open. Fetch. Bring it to me. Good boy.” pic.twitter.com/hGwCohJKMZ

— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) December 19, 2024

In a steady drumbeat of social media posts and television interviews, Democrats have begun referring to Musk as the “president-elect,” the “shadow president,” the “co-president,” and even the “decider-in-chief” as they’ve attacked Republicans for opposing the bill.

It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump.

Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead. pic.twitter.com/feDiAXe8yp

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 18, 2024

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, released a fact sheet about “what Elon will cost your state,” detailing how “President-Elect Musk’s” opposition to the government funding bill had also derailed disaster relief funds.

“It is dangerous for House Republicans to have folded to the demands of the richest man on the planet, who nobody elected, after leaders in both parties came to an agreement to fund the government and provide this disaster aid,” DeLauro said in a statement. “There was no need for a government shutdown.”

Musk, for his part, rejected the notion that he was the real leader of the GOP.

“All I can do is bring things to the attention of the people, so they may voice their support if they so choose,” he wrote on X.